Ankle jacket



Jan. 20, 1970 H. 1.. GARDNER ANKLE JACKET 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 6,1968 INVENTOR. Harris L. Gur'dner ATTORNEYS Jan. 20, 1970 H. L. GARDNER3,490,450

ANKLE JACKET Filed June 6, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR HARRIS L.GARDNER BY 6 WM,

ATTORNEYS United States Patent Office 3,490,450 Patented Jan. 20, 19703,490,450 ANKLE JACKET Harris L. Gardner, 174 Riverside Ave., Cranston,RI. 02910 Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 526,933,

Jan. 3, 1966. This application June 6, 1968, Ser.

Int. Cl. A61f 13/06, 13/00 US. Cl. 128166 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE This application is a continuation-in-part of my application,Ser. No. 658,077, filed Aug. 3, 1967, which is a continuation-in-part ofmy application Ser. No. 526,933, filed Jan. 3, 1966.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Heretofore, ankle supports have been of arelatively complicated form comprising several pieces stitched togetherand usually laced up the front between the edges which embrace the ankleand extend around the back of the foot. The lacings take a considerablelength of time to execute and do not provide any give after the lacinghas been accomplished.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An ankle support or jacket formed of one pieceof material to extend beneath the foot about the Achilles tendon andalong the inner and outer sides of the foot with a seam at the innerportion of the jacket. Also a strap at the upper edge extends about theleg and supports the jacket vertically, while optionally there may beformed a band to extend beneath the strap and across the edges of theinner and outer sides of the jacket. The securing is by the simpleVelcro forms of hooks and pile material enabling adjustment. The bandmay be of elastic material to be stretched to apply the desired tensionbetween the parts to which it is attached. Additionally, a strap may besecured to the Achilles portion of the jacket to extend in the form of afigure 8 along the inner and outer sides of the ankle and beneath thearch of the foot crossing at the instep.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view of the one pieceof material with parts attached before the edges have been sewedtogether;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the device ready to receivethe foot of the user and showing the edges attached;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the jacket on the foot of a user;

:FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a modified form of ankle support; and

"FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the modified form illustrating thedevice ready to receive the foot of the user.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In FIG. 1, designates a singlepiece of fabric cut out in the shape shown which is to be rolled intothe finished form shown in FIG. 2. It is usually of woven canvas ordrill backed with cotton. The opposite edges 11 and 12 are securedtogether to form a seam 13 which seam is partly covered on the outsidewith an attachable means in the form of a pile fabric 14 for purposeswhich will be described. The central portion of this fabric whichextends beneaththe arch of the foot is that area designated generally 15fromwhich the fabric extends up the inside of the foot slightly to theseam portion thereof, said inner portions being designated as 16a and16b at either side of the seam -13. The outer portion is designated 17and extends up the outside of the foot leaving the edges 18 and 21spaced. The Achilles portion 22 connects the inner and outer portionsand will extend over the back of the foot. It will be noted that abinding 20 extends along these edges-and about the edge 19 at the backofthe foot for strength and also for comfort. From the upper edge of theouter portion, a strap 25 extends which, as will be noted from FIG. 1,is the same piece of material with the remaining portions of the jacket.This strap will extend about the leg of the user and may be attached tothe pile fabric 26 which will be located along the inner edge and backof the device by Velcro hooks 27 on the end portion of the strap.

An' elastic band designated generally 30 may be provided by stitchingone edge of it as at 31 to the outer side portion of the device andequipping it with Velcro hooks 32 at a location spaced from saidstitching. This band extends across the opening between the edges of theinner and outer portions and engages the pile fabric 14 which covers theseams 11 and 12 of the inner portion. By means of this elastic band 30desired tension may be had in drawing the inner and outer portions ofthe device together as it extends across the opening between the edgesof the inner and outer portions when applied to the foot.

By this arrangement an opening 35 for the heel is provided and a verysecure and yet comfortable binding of the ankle may be had, giving theankle firm support and yet capable of some movement.

In FIGS. 4 and 5 a form of a modified support is shown in which thejacket is substantially as above described to which correspondingnumerals are applied. However, the strap which encircles the leg nowdesignated 25 is shown as formed of a separate piece of material andstitched as at 35 to the body member or jacket. This strap 25' hasVelcro pile fabric at 26 and Velcro hooks at 27 serving the functions ofthe pile and hooks 26 and 27 heretofore described to hold the strapabout the leg of the user.

In the form shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, an additional strap designatedgenerally 40 is shown. as being detachably secured to the Achillesportion 22 of the body member or jacket by means of Velcro pile fabric43 on one part and Velcro hooks 44 on the other part which leaves thestrap having portions 41 and 42 extending in opposite directions fromthe body member or jacket. If desired the strap may be secured bystitching to the Achilles portion 22. The portion 41 is of a length toextend along the outside of the foot then across the instep to theinside of the foot and thence below the arch of the foot with itsportion 45 extending upwardly crossing itself, while the portion 42 mayextend along the other side of the foot, in this case the inside of thefoot, and toward the instep to meet in lapping relation the end portionof the upwardly extending part 45 as seen in FIG. 4. Velcro attachmentmay be provided by providing the pile fabric 46 on one part and theVelcro hooks 47 on the other part to engage therewith and hold theoverlapping portions of the elastic strap in the shown relationshipforming substantially a figure 8 about the ankle and arch of the foot.

I claim: 7 r

1. An ankle jacket to extend about the instep and arch of the footleaving the heel and toes exposed comprising a single piece of fabrichaving a central portion to be located beneath the foot of the user,said portion being defined by an arcuate edge forming an opening for thereception of a heel, an outer portion extending from said arcuate edgeto be located along the outside of the foot, inner portions extendingfrom said arcuate edge and adjacent the outer and central portions to belocated along the inside of the foot of the user, said inner portionshaving ends in adjacency and secured together, attachable means disposedon said inner portions, said inner and outer portions being acontinuation of the central portion and extending aroud the back of thefoot forming an Achilles portion and leaving the outer edges of saidouter and inner References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1/1963 Biggs eta1. 128166 5/1968 P'appas 222 ADELE M. EAGER, Primary Examiner U.S. C1.X.R. 2-25; 128-171

